


One is Enough

by Mizuki_3



Category: Night Vale - Fandom
Genre: Comedy, M/M, Short, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-04
Updated: 2014-05-04
Packaged: 2018-01-21 21:07:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1564076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mizuki_3/pseuds/Mizuki_3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cecil Baldwin returns to Night Vale from another dimension, where he was stranded there for almost a  month. Everyone welcomes him back warmly. Even Carlos, his beloved, has a surprise for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One is Enough

**Author's Note:**

> "Welcome to Night Vale" and its characters do NOT belong to me. It is an awesome podcast that I recommend.

“Today marks the 28th day that Cecil Baldwin is not with us” said Tom the intern.

  
 _And it marks the 28th day that I started my long awaited career as a radio broadcaster_.  
He thought.  
 _Of course, sadly, no one cares since he is still missing. I will just have to put on my best act. Frankly he can stay away as long as he likes ‘cause his absence has served as a kind of… catalyst for my career... Catalyst for my career-that’s a good one._  


Regaining his focus, he sighed, breaking the silence, and then began to speak in a false disappointing tone, “And now in today’s news. The mayor of-," 

  
The sudden appearance of a buzzing sound, similar to the sound of a fly flying too close to one's ear startled him. It intensified.  
"Where is it coming from?" Tom said, forgetting that he was on air. For a moment, it was just Tom trying to locate the source of this sound until he completely forgot about delivering the news.  
Not to worry Tom, no one was really paying attention to you.  


A few seconds later, a white light appeared. Tom gasped and then fell of the chair; the light was too bright and served as a terrible surprise. He laid on the cold floor of the booth, eyes shut, completely still for a few seconds.

The light soon faded away but was replaced by a human being. A tall, slender, and barefoot man cladded in what seemed to be the leftovers of his shirt and trousers. His arms decorated in tribal themed tattoos and still healing cuts and bruises. He loomed over frightened intern Tom, whose eyes were still shut. After internally debating with himself whether or not to poke Tom so he could get up, he decided not to. Instead he pushed his blonde locks back whilst taking a deep breath, took out his glasses from his shirt pocket, wore them, and then he brought the microphone close to his mouth.  
He hesitated for a few seconds, “I’m back,” he paused, “Night Vale.”  
And once again the listeners’ radios emitted the fine, confident, deep voice of Cecil Baldwin.

* * *

Cecil felt happy and surprised to be received happily by his colleagues. Even Tom the intern managed to awkwardly hug him. And it wasn't long before Cecil’s Facebook wall was covered in heart-warming messages from the citizens of Night vale. He left the station, intending to go home as quickly as possible, but then he decided to walk at a deliberate pace so he could reabsorb Night vale once again. The sun was already setting; the pastel colors gave the sky a soft appearance and reminded him of Carlos. Cecil didn’t bother internally arguing with his brain about the association of the sunset with Carlos. The only thing stopping him from running to Carlos’s lab was his haggard appearance and that Cecil felt that it was necessary to wash off dirt from another dimension before touching him. Everyone at the radio station hadn’t given Cecil a chance before they dog-pilled him. So if they wake up tomorrow with something unusual or I don’t know what, it wasn’t his fault. 

  
_Just a precaution._ He tried to convince himself while walking once again on the solid streets of Night Vale.  
 _What if it is another dream? Have **you** really come back?" _ He stopped walking. He gave himself the hardest pinch he was capable of given and then rubbed his eyes.The scenery didn’t change.  
It is not a dream.

* * *

Cecil stepped out of the shower feeling refreshed but fatigued. He went to his bedroom and sat on his bed. He ran his fingers through his hair counting how many knots he would have to deal with later. Water was still dripping from the tips of his tangled locks onto his skin. Each droplet felt like a poke from a cold human finger on his dry skin. The existence of knots in his hair didn’t affect his mood as they once did.  
 _A month ago I would have cursed myself over the knots in my hair but now the matter is so insignificant... that I just want to laugh at my past self for being such a brat._  
 _Glad nothing is in the fridge. Can't deal with decaying food right now._  
He chuckled. _Experience can teach you things. Experience…can…_ The memories of him being in the other dimension broke his train of thoughts. Vivid disjointed scenes started to play in his mind, like a disorganized play. He lay on his side on the bed, his legs hanging off the mattress. He remained still, submitting to the surreal horror show that plagued his mind.  
The phone rang. 

He pushed his upper body off the bed and shifted into a sitting posture. He picked up the dust covered landline and brought it to his ear. A moment too soon, “Hello Cecil.” 

Cecil didn’t utter a word for a few seconds. He instantly recognized the voice. It belonged to his boyfriend, Carlos. “Carlos! It is so nice to hear your voice again.” Cecil replied in utter glee.  
“But we spoke on the phone yesterday,” Carlos chuckled, “Anyways, I’ve started a new experiment –“  
 _We spoke yesterday? There were no telephones yesterday! That place…that place did not have telephones! There is no way we spoke on the phone yesterday!_

But Cecil didn't react to Carlos’s statement. He decided to listen to Carlos go on about his new experiment. Cecil really missed the sound of his voice. Although he was happy to hear his voice once again, somewhere at the back of his head, he expected Carlos to react more. The tone of Carlos’s voice was cheerful but not enough to assure Cecil that Carlos was happy he had returned to Night Vale.

  
 _I mean if you care about someone and if he or she disappeared for a month wouldn’t you be worried- or at least ask where they where?_  
Carlos spoke continuously without any break long enough for Cecil to respond with wordy answers.  
 _Something doesn’t feel right. Carlos always kept his work and me separate. I usually had to guess what he was up to. Now he is sharing all these details. And…_  
And as the scientist went on without any alteration to his tone or to the topic, the more Cecil felt uncertain and uneasy. Even the conversation they were suppose to be having was reduced to Carlos doing all the talking and Cecil keeping his thoughts to himself.  
Did you even notice? Where you so into your work that you didn’t hear me call your name as they took me?  
But Carlos wouldn’t just say what Cecil expected him to say.  
 _Carlos._  
Shut up.  
Stop talking about your experiment.  
But Carlos didn’t stop.  
 _Am not being selfish—ask me if I am okay._  
That previous thought repeated itself; gradually intensifying in Cecil’s consciousness until…  
 _ **Enough, you horrible excuse for a boyfriend!**_  
“And then I added-,”  
 **AT LEAST PRETEND YOU CARE! YOU HORRIBLE EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN BEING!**  
And just before he attempted to throw the phone away, “So do you think you could come by tonight- maybe now?” Carlos asked, startling Cecil. A moment of silence followed.  
 _Are you fucking kidding me? I was estranged in another dimension running for my life until this afternoon. AND YOU WANT ME TO FUCKING COME AND HELP YOU? EVEN STEVE CARLSBURG WOULDN’T DO THAT!_  
Cecil didn’t utter any of these words.  
“Sure, let me put on some clothes.”

* * *

Cecil slowly got dressed with an unwanted soup of sadness, frustration, and disappointment weighing in his heart. He slipped on a pair of black pants on top of his underwear and then a short-sleeved blue t-shirt before draping his neck with a red woolen scarf. He didn’t bother brushing his hair. He wore his glasses and then put on a pair of combat boots before stepping out the door.

Cecil arrived at the lab Carlos rented, next to big Rico’s pizza. He was just about to enter when he spotted something strange. Steve Carlsburg was strolling on the opposite sidewalk with-

  
Steve Carlsburg.  
Cecil felt more irritated, “As if one wasn’t bad enough.” he muttered.  
Cecil chuckled unexpectedly, “I must be exhausted. Like beyond, beyond exhausted.”  
He entered the lab saying, “I’m here,”  
And then a beaker hit his forehead.

Cecil took a step back and tripped on a cable, losing his balance, he fell backwards, hitting his back on the wall. “What-" Cecil felt something tug him off the wall by his collar until his body collided with what felt to be another body. Cecil opened his eyes to see Carlos. Same hair, skin, clean lab coat, but his eyes no longer showed warmth as they always did. He had this villainous look that Cecil thought it was impossible for Carlos to show- especially to him. “Carlos?!” Cecil gasped. Carlos smirked and swung him towards a shelf. Cecil fell onto the floor along with the glass lab instruments.  
 _I must be in an alternate Night Vale._ “Hello Cecil,” Carlos spoke, “welcome back Cecil. Do you like my welcoming?” “Love it! But a kiss would have been preferable,” he said while slowly trying to push his upper body off the floor with the strength he managed to muster. Carlos gave him a nice swift kick; forcing Cecil to fall onto his back. Pain surged from his abdomen and he could feel the glass shards pierce his back through his shirt. “I didn’t know you were this strong—kinda gets me excited” Cecil coughed.  
 _"I should be the one kicking your ass"_  
Carlos placed his foot on Cecil’s chest and then added more force to it. Cecil grunted, “Are… you… trying… to… shove… your foot pass through my body?!” The glass pieces under Cecil did not grant him mercy either.  
“WHAT DID I DO TO YOU?!”  
Carlos smirked, “Nothing in particular.” He took his foot off him and immediately Cecil gasped for air while rubbing his aching chest. “Maybe because I know you won’t be able to do anything about it since I am your sweet. Perfect. Carlos.”  
“You definitely look like him.” Cecil panted. And with that said, it would seem his last ounce of strength was used up. Cecil blankly stared at the ceiling without uttering a sound or moving an inch. Carlos knelt behind him and took a large glass shard that resembled a deformed dagger.  
“You know what,” Carlos spoke sarcastically, “I have suddenly forgotten how to spell my name. I know there is a C.” And then Carlos traced the letter C with the glass shard on Cecil’s arm, on top of his tattoos. Cecil’s blood immediately swelled onto the surface and then dripped onto the floor. He felt the pain but didn’t react.  
 _"Why don’t I fight back? What's happening to me?"_  
“And then an A,”  
 _"He is not Carlos. All I need to do is grab a piece and stab him to escape._  
And then a thought struck Cecil that woke him up from his trance. _Where is the real Carlos?_  
“Big letter or small letter?” he paused and pretended to think, acting as if it was an important decision.  
“Neither,”  
“What?” 

Cecil plunged a piece of glass onto Carlos’s arm and then rolled away while Carlos was momentarily distracted by the surging pain. He pulled the piece out, spraying blood onto the floor.

  
Cecil stood up and barked, “WHERE IS THE REAL CARLOS?”  
“RIGHT HERE!” Carlos barked, grinning ear to ear.  
“TELL ME!” Cecil couldn’t keep continue screaming at that level, “Give him back!” He sounded hoarse.  
Carlos took off the lab coat and threw it at Cecil, the crisp white color tainted with blood. “That is all that is left.”  
Cecil took a few steps forward to pick up the lab coat. He hugged it and remained silent for a moment.  
“I’m right here, Cecil” Carlos said and then licked his lips before bursting into laughter.  
And in that moment, Carlos could see the eye tattoo on Cecil’s forehead glow.  
"Not in the next two minutes."

* * *

Cecil slowly dropped to the cold floor. He arranged himself into the fetus position while clutching the lab coat. He stared at the door opposite him feeling completely drained—too tired to even roll away as the pool of blood finally reached him. His clothes absorbed the thick red liquid; he didn’t flinch when he felt the cold liquid on his skin. Beside him laid the still dismembered body of Carlos, decorated in claw marks and stab wounds. He closed his eyes. 

  
_"I’m sorry Carlos that I wasn’t here_  
I’m sorry Night Vale.  
Goodnight. Night Vale.  
.  
.  
.  
“Cecil”  
“Cecil!”  
“CECIL!”  
.  
.  
.  
Cecil could hear someone call his name but he denied the sounds existence.  
He felt a hand. It was warm.  
“DAMN YOU!”  
Cecil eyes popped open after a hard slap across his face to see someone on the verge of tears that looking at him.  
“You... look..." he drifted back into unconsciousness. He received another slap, " so familiar..."  
“Cecil I’m so sorry—“Carlos picked up Cecil, trying to hold back his tears.  
“So there is a heaven.” Cecil muttered with a faint smile before drifting back into unconsciousness once again.

* * *

Cecil woke up in his bed on a very bright day. The sun had burnt holes through the curtain, literally. Cecil grunted before he put on a pair of sun glasses. 

  
“It’s just one of those days.”  
As he approached the kitchen he could hear humming and sizzling. He smelt a hint of fried eggs. "I don’t remember today being “All appliances do their work by themselves” day?"  
“Good Morning,” Carlos greeted.  
He sighed.  
 _So this is what heaven looks like? Looks a lot like my kitchen._ He took off his sunglasses.  
"I made you scrambled eggs. Here is some lettuce.”  


Cecil took the plate without saying a word. He picked up a piece and threw it into his mouth. It looked like eggs but didn’t taste like eggs. These were Night Vale’s special eggs. The only type of eggs that had this particular taste. 

  
“Needs a little salt right, cooking isn’t my strong suit.”  
Cecil took a piece of lettuce and chewed on it. Tasted like lettuce. Most have been imported. Carlos turned off the oven.  
After a few minutes of just hearing the crunchy sound of Cecil eating lettuce, “Why are you so quiet, Cecil?” Carlos asked. Cecil didn’t reply.  
“Well,” Cecil began, “I’m having a hard time in choosing my words. I’m quite surprised that heaven looks like my apartment.”  
Carlos remained poker face, “Are you trying to be romantic?”  
“No…I mean, I’m being literal,” Cecil confirmed.  
“So you think you are in heaven. As in you died-,”  
“We both died--,” He interrupted.  
Cecil choked. He dropped the plate and then walked out of the kitchen. Carlos, a bit surprised, followed Cecil while calling his name.  
Carlos caught up with Cecil and grabbed his shirt.  
“Wait! Cecil stop and let’s start from the beginning.”  
“HOW COULD YOU STILL MAKE EGGS FOR ME!” Cecil roared. He gulped, “after what I did.” His voice was trembling.  
Carlos slowly spun Cecil and saw he was on the verge of tears. He embraced the quivering man. “How about you tell me everything.”  
“I don’t want to.”  


Cecil soon gave in and followed Carlos back to the kitchen where they sat down across each other. He told him everything he remembered from after the phone call. 

  
“Cecil, I knew you were gone. Night Vale radio made an official announcement the following day. And every day I tried to find a way to get you back or just waited for you, I swear”  
Cecil just stared at him until he could muster up a smile.  
“But then,” Carlos continued, “ I left for a conference hosted in Desert Bluff.”  
“There must have been a sandstorm on that day.” Cecil said with a sigh.  
“That’s right. I got exposed to it for a while before the helicopter to take me to Desert Bluffs arrived.How did you know?”  
“I saw Steve Carlsberg walking with his double just before I entered the lab.”  
“Smart conclusion.” Carlos affirmed, “So then you got to the lab and _certainly_ met my double. It was a mess when I found you. There must have been some loose wild creature in the lab with the both of you.”  
Cecil was startled by the last comment, “Creature?”  
“The double was torn from limb to limb and I found you unconscious hugging my lab coat.”  
“There was no creature.” Cecil looked away, “It was all me.”  
Carlos was taken aback, “Cecil…”  
“At first it was self-defense—“  
“Self-defense! You turned him into a jigsaw puzzle! Worse of all his double was me--,”  
“WHY DO YOU THINK I AM LOOSING MY MIND?!”  
Carlos stopped talking, “Your double immediately attacked me and at first I was trying to stay alive without hurting him cause he looked like you but wasn’t you! And then he made me think you, the real Carlos, were dead. That’s when I completely lost it.”  
Carlos didn’t respond.  
Cecil stood up and went to stand close Carlos. “He tried to tattoo your name to my arm. A sadistic double you have I must say.” He searched for the cut, “here.”  
“I would never--,”  
“Let’s put this behind us. We are still both alive and I am in Night Vale with the one and only you,” he points to Carlos before he leaned in to kiss him on his forehead.  
“I’m going back to bed.” Cecil said as he departed the kitchen.  
Carlos sat there deep in thought for a few minutes before he picked up his phone. He tapped the screen a few times before he found the number. He tapped the green phone icon and waited.  
“I’ll keep this brief,” Carlos began to say, “Best to find another scientist. Something came up.” He closed the phone and deleted the number.  
“You were planning to leave weren’t you?”  
Carlos stood up, his eyes focused on Cecil's face, “you heard correctly.”  
“To where exactly?”  
“Desert Bluffs.”  
“So much for being patient.”  
“That is uncalled for!” Carlos snapped. He took a deep breath. “I put all my work on hold so I could search for you tirelessly until the conference. That's when I was offered the job. And I told them to give me time to think about it in hope that you would return." he paused. Cecil said nothing. "But you are here now and that’s what matters.”  
“Prove to me that you aren’t scared of me.” Cecil said with a straight face.  
“I am not.”  
“Fine come and hug me, knowing I am capable of that much destruction.”  
The image of Carlos's dead double flashed in Carlos's mind. Carlos didn’t move for the first three seconds. “This is bullshit.” He walked towards Cecil. He hugged Cecil with so much force that Cecil cried out in pain, “Cecil I thought I had lost you, how could I stay in Night Vale where everything reminded me of you.”  
Cecil wrapped his arms around Carlos, “Every day I thought of you while being stranded in that wretched place.”  
“This is turning into one of those soaps my mother used to watch,”  
Cecil burst into laughter, “I couldn’t agree more.” Then he ruffled Carlos’s hair, “I missed your perfect hair.”  
“Enough, I haven’t washed it.”  
“And I haven’t had a shower.”  
“You technically have since you are not soaking in blood.”  
“ _Shoosh_ , don’t ruin the mood.”  
“I am not getting in the shower with you.” Carlos declared.  
“Gasp!” Cecil replied with a fake gasp. “I merely wanted to wash your hair for you!” Cecil let go of Carlos, “what were you thinking?” Cecil raised his brow while smirking.

* * *

" Scientists have concluded that the last sand storm that hit Night Vale was definitely different from the previous one. Usually sand storms result in doubles but in this case the doubles all developed a personality that is completely opposite of the real person. The Sheriff Secret Police are going around town to eliminate these doubles as they could pose a threat to the safety of the real citizens of Night Vale." Tom the intern reported, "Cecil Baldwin will not be returning to Night Vale radio for a while. Due to the traumatic experience he faced while trapped in the other dimension, he has been ordered by his superiors to take a few weeks off. And now for traffic."


End file.
